OpenTable Launches Mobile Payment System

Imagine a tool that could pay a restaurant bill at the click of a button--no pesky credit cards or delays.

Opentable, an app that helps its users make reservations at nearby restaurants, has created a mobile payment system that lets users pay from their tables. And it could come to Boston by the end of the year.

The company launched a pilot program for the mobile payment service at restaurants scattered around San Francisco earlier this year. According to a company statement, it was such as success that OpenTable has decided to expand.

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The company announced Monday that it would expand the service from San Francisco to 20 other cities, potentially including Boston, later this year. A New York version launched today.

The service lets any OpenTable app user add a credit card to their account and “view and pay their check at participating restaurants with a few taps,” according to a press release.

The statement noted that users must have the latest version of the OpenTable app for iPhones to use the service.

OpenTable claims that the service is just as easy for restaurants to adopt as users. The app builds right into the existing interface at restaurants.

“With no new equipment or apps to download, our icon appears automatically in your POS,” the OpenTable website reads. “It’s easy to manage and close checks for guests paying with OpenTable.”